Page 17 - DMEA Week 48 2020

DMEA REFINING DMEA

Kuwait starts oil flows to Al-Zour refinery

KUWAIT KUWAIT has begun pumping oil via pipeline Reports earlier this year claimed that several
to the new Al-Zour refinery, local state media services firms and contractors hired at Al-Zour
The project suffered reported on December 2, with the project now had invoked force majeure, as restrictions on
coronavirus-related estimated to be 97% complete. movement and public gatherings meant they
disruptions earlier this The launch of oil flows to the facility in the could not receive equipment and complete work
year. country’s south comes ahead of its commission- on time.
ing. State-owned Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Kuwait is also upgrading its existing Mina
Industries Co. (KIPEC) had planned to initi- al-Ahmadi and Mina Abdullah refineries, not
ate the supplies in mid-2020 but was unable to only to raise capacity to 1.6mn bpd by 2025, but
bring in engineers and technicians from abroad also to produce more higher-value products
to do so because of coronavirus (COVID-19) such as diesel and kerosene that can be exported.
restrictions. The Middle East is set to see a surge in fuel
“KIPEC has managed to tackle that problem exports over the coming years, as its oil-produc-
following the ease of travel curbs,” the Alanba ing countries push on with projects to process
news agency reported. “It began supplying more crude into higher-value products. The
crude to the refinery on December 1 ahead of its region is set to add 2.7mn bpd of refining capac-
commissioning.” ity by 2030 and 3.2mn bpd by 2040, the Inter-
Al-Zour is expected to handle 615,000 barrels national Energy Agency (IEA) said in its latest
per day (bpd) of oil at full capacity, representing outlook report. This is more than any other area
the biggest capacity addition in the Middle East in the world.
for years. Kuwait has awarded contracts worth In second and third place after Kuwait
over $15bn to various contractors for the pro- in terms of Middle Eastern refining growth
ject, including China’s Sinopec, Spain’s Techni- over the next five years are Saudi Arabia
cas Reunidas and South Korean firms Hanwha, and Iraq. Saudi Arabia wants to expand its
Hyundai and Daewoo, as well as US company exports, while Iraq is looking to wean itself
Fluor. off imported fuel. ™

PETROCHEMICALS

TechnipFMC kicks off work at

Egyptian hydrocracker

MIDDLE EAST TECHNIPFMC has begun engineering, pro- The complex will refine fuel oil into up to
curement and construction (EPC) work at a 2.8mn tonnes per year (tpy) of higher-quality
Egypt is a net importer grassroots hydrocracking complex in Assiut, petroleum products, including high-octane
of petroleum products. Egypt, it said this week. gasoline and diesel compliant with Euro-5
The international contractor was hired in July standards. It is operated by Assiut Oil Refining,
to build the complex for $1bn. Its contract covers a subsidiary of state-owned Egyptian General
the construction of units for vacuum distillation, Petroleum.
diesel hydrocracking, delayed coking and distil- The plant’s output also includes 400,000 tpy
late hydrotreating. It will also build a hydrogen of naphtha, 100,000 tpy of LPG, 300,000 tpy of
production unit, using its steam reforming pro- coke and 66,000 tpy of sulphur. It is on schedule
prietary technology. Its contract also covers var- to start up in 2022.
ious other aspects, including offsites and utilities. Years of declining production and rising
In a statement, TechnipFMC said it had com- consumption have led to Egypt becoming a net
pleted all the required steps to begin the work. importer of fuel. It is investing in a raft of new
The project will support Egypt’s energy transi- downstream projects to try to reverse this trend.
tion strategy and provide support for economic But some have been put on hold or cancelled
growth in rural areas, while reducing emissions, since the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic
the company said. TechnipFMC will book the began.
deal in its fourth-quarter orders. Egyptian Petroleum Minister Tarek El-Molla
The $2.8bn Mostorod hydrocracking project recently said the country could become self-suf-
is situated at the Assiut oil refinery in central ficient in petroleum products as early as 2023.
Egypt. A ceremony was held at the construction The government wants to build new processing
site on September 27 led by Egyptian President facilities and modernise existing ones, while also
Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. rationalising consumption. ™

Week 48 03•December•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P17